


The Last Snorkack Hunt

by drawrof



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 19:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drawrof/pseuds/drawrof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After visiting her friends for Christmas, Luna returns to Sweden to hunt for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack again and meets a new friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Snorkack Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for a secret Santa exchange.

The snow had gotten heavier when Luna landed in front of the Potters' house. The lights in the window and the smoke curling out of the chimney looked inviting and had her hurrying to dismount and knock on the door. The sound of music and laughter came drifting out when Ginny opened the door.

"Luna!" Ginny wrapped her in a hug as soon as she saw her. "I'm so glad you could make it. Come ins–" Her smile faded as she looked over Luna's shoulder. "Is that a thestral?"

Luna smiled and patted the thestral's neck. "Yes, one of the herd in the Forbidden Forest. I went to see Hagrid earlier and he said I should borrow one when I left."

"What should we do with it while you're here?" Ginny was eyeing it warily as she crossed her arms against the cold.

"He will be fine out here," replied Luna in a placid tone. "Though if you have some meat I'm sure he would appreciate it."

"If you're sure. Come inside and warm up. You must be half-frozen."

Luna gave the thestral one last pat before she let Ginny lead her inside. She removed her cloak and revealed her bright yellow robes with dark green stars on them. "Merry Christmas, Harry," she said when she saw him walking toward her.

"Merry Christmas," he repeated.

"Hagrid said to wish you a merry Christmas too."

"How is he? I'm sorry he couldn't come. Something about a sick hippogriff?"

"Yes, Hagrid didn't want to leave her in her condition. But he is sure she will recover soon."

"That's good. Come on and say hello to the others." They walked into the next room and Harry spotted Ron in the corner. "Ron, are you still playing with the radio?"

Ron had one hand on the radio dial while the other held a biscuit. "I need to hear some good music tonight before we go to Mum's tomorrow and I'm forced to listen to Celestina Warbeck all night."

"Don't worry," said Hermione. "You probably won't be able to hear it over the sound of your chewing."

"'At's no' true," answered Ron, having just bitten into his biscuit.

Hermione shook her head but did not say anything else to him. Instead she greeted Luna. "You should get some food before Ron eats it all."

"Is there any pudding?" Luna allowed Hermione to lead her to the table where all the food was set out. Neville and Hannah were seated nearby but before she could greet them she was distracted by the sight of a little black-haired boy next to the table with his arm stretched out toward the food but finding it just out of his reach.

"James, you're supposed to be in bed," said Ginny.

"Can't sleep." He was still reaching for the nearest plate of food even as he twisted to look at her.

"And you already had dessert."

"Oh let him have another piece of treacle tart," said Harry. "It's Christmas."

"All right," she answered before turning back to her son. "But you're going straight back to bed when you're done." She cut him a very small piece of the tart and sat down with him to supervise. Luna helped herself to the pudding.

"Speaking of bed time," said Andromeda, "I should get Teddy home." She stopped to tell Luna that she was sorry to leave so soon after she had arrived and was soon through the fireplace.

Ron left the radio, apparently satisfied with the music selection, and he and Hermione joined the others by the food. He reached for a mince pie and Hermione took a seat near Luna. "I read your article on the tebo the other day. It was fascinating. Is it difficult to study a creature that can become invisible?"

"Sometimes. It helps when they don't know you are there." She went on to discuss the details of her research trip.

"Oh, Luna," said Ginny suddenly. "I almost forgot to ask. I have an extra ticket to the next Harpies game. Would you like to go?"

"I'd love to cheer on your old team but I'm leaving right after I spend some time with Daddy tomorrow."

"Where are you going this time?"

"Sweden. I'm hunting the Crumple-Horned Snorkack again."

Several glances were exchanged all around her and Hermione said, "I thought you had accepted that all those creatures your father talked about aren't real."

"Or should I still be worried about nargles?" added Harry, suppressing a grin.

"Most of them aren't," said Luna, ignoring Harry. "But I know the Snorkack exists."

"But the last time I heard you say anything about them was when you admitted that the horn your father acquired was from an erumpent."

"It was a reasonable mistake. Snorkacks and erumpents share a common ancestor. They are quite different after adapting to different continents but their horns are still similar."

"What do they like to eat?" asked Neville with a good-natured smile. "I could give you some treats to tempt them with."

"Thank you, Neville, but I'm not sure what they eat," she answered. "So little is known about them."

Ron glanced at Hermione and changed the subject before she could say anything. No more was said on the topic of Luna's next trip or the creatures she would be looking for. She found that she was not any more eager to bring it up again than they were and was happy to tell them about how she had made her new earrings out of billywig wings instead.

Two days later Luna was setting up her tent in the mountains that separated Sweden from Norway. She had traded her bright robes for more form-fitting clothes in dull colors that would not draw attention. Once she was satisfied that she would be able to live there comfortably for some time, she pulled her map out of her bag, set it on the table, and unfolded it. It was the same map that she and her father had used to plot their location on their earlier searches. They had started towards the south of the mountains and worked their way north. Luna would continue that pattern on her own.

With a pack on her back, a compass in her hand, and her wand tucked behind her ear, she left the tent and headed west. After only a few steps out of the tent she paused. She knew from experience how frustrating this search could be and as much as she looked forward to accomplishing her goal, part of her felt the weight of the greater possibility of failure. She took a deep breath and prepared for her first trek out into the wilderness that would likely provide nothing.

She looked for signs of caves that creatures might use for shelter and kept an eye out for any sort of movement. She ignored the birds she noticed and focused on what she could see on the ground. Several smaller animals could be found, some marmots and hares, but there were no signs of anything larger than a wolf.

Eventually she changed her course and headed further north and came across the den of a hibernating brown bear. After taking a moment to ponder whether the Snokack might hibernate and deciding it probably would not she moved on. She continued looking for signs of other large animals and soon fell to the ground after running into one.

Luna looked up and had trouble making out who or what she had found. Whatever it she had found was either invisible or very close to it. There appeared to be some distortion in the air in front of her but that was all she could make out. "Is someone there?" The only creature capable of invisibility that she knew of that was that large was the demiguise and none of them lived in this area. She thought it must be a person.

A vague shape moved around in front of her before a short, stocky man with dark hair appeared, his arm raised above his head and a wand in his hand. "I'm sorry, I was Disillusioned." He helped her up off the snowy ground. "Are you sure you should keep your wand behind your ear like that? What if I had been a muggle?"

"Then you would have thought it was a stick. As it is it told you it was safe to reveal yourself. Or so I assume."

He nodded. "That's true." After a pause he said, "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Rolf Scamander."

Luna shook the hand he offered and gave her name. Then she asked, "Are you related to Newt Scamander?"

"My grandfather."

"And you are continuing his work?"

"That's right."

"You have a lot to live up to."

"I suppose you're right." He looked away and tugged at the cuff of his glove. "I should probably get going. I'm looking for a graphorn."

"I wonder if they are related to the Snorkack at all," said Luna to herself.

"To what?" asked Rolf.

"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack. That's what I am looking for."

He tilted his head and looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I've never heard of it."

"Most people haven't. Some say it doesn't exist."

"What makes you think it does?"

"There is some evidence that I find convincing, but you're right, we should both probably move on instead of standing here talking. Daylight will only last so long."

"We could walk together. I would like to hear more about this creature."

Luna smiled at him. "All right. Will you Disillusion yourself again? Should I do that too?"

"It will be easier to keep from running into each other again if we're both visible."

They set out and Rolf began asking questions about the mysterious creature that Luna was hunting. She answered his questions with enthusiasm and had soon told him everything her father had ever told her on the subject. They continued looking for signs of large creatures while they walked, only occasionally glancing at each other. Sometimes one of them would interrupt the other to say that they should head in a new direction after spotting some bent branches or broken twigs.

After he had heard everything he said, "Well, I don't know if I believe in it, but I'll look forward to hearing about it if you find it."

"Thank you for listening. My friends are tired of hearing about my 'mad ideas'."

"Are there other creatures you've told them about that they don't believe in?"

"Not as many as there used to be." She paused and grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Did you hear something?"

They both stood frozen for a moment listening carefully. There was a rustling sound and some soft crunching similar to how their own footsteps at sounded a moment ago.

"It doesn't sound big enough to be what either of us is looking for," said Rolf softly.

"Could it be something that your graphorn would like to eat?" asked Luna.

"Possibly." He began moving toward the source of the noise and Luna followed, both of them taking quiet, careful steps. A minute later they came across an arctic fox.

"Should we keep going this way?" asked Luna.

"Might as well." He waited a moment before asking, "What were you saying about how there used to be other animals like your Snorkack?"

"My father has some strange ideas. When I was still in school I believed them completely. I had a reputation for being quite mad. Since I left I've been thinking more about those ideas and accepting that some of them don't seem as sensible to me as they used to."

"And those others don't have as much evidence as your Snorkack?"

"I suppose some do but it's not the same." Her tone had gotten more vague than usual and Rolf did not ask any more questions.

They walked in silence until they came across some large animal's carcass. They both knelt down to get a better look at it. "Looks like it was a moose," said Rolf. "I think we may be close to a graphorn. There isn't much else that could take on a moose."

"Do you want to Disillusion yourself again?"

"That is probably a good idea. We should take as many precautions as we can before we see the beast itself." They each performed the spell on themselves and then Rolf said, "Take my hand so we can keep track of each other."

Luna reached out and probed the air in front of her until her hand met his. It took another moment for them to get a good hold on each other and then they started walking again, this time in silence. As they went further they found more signs of the creature Rolf was looking for. At last they found some tracks that led them to a cave.

"I think this is it," Rolf whispered. "It would be safer for you to stay here."

"It would be safer for you to stay here too."

"I guess you're coming with me then?"

"I am."

He did not argue or say anything else. They made their way to the cave as quietly as possible. Luna heard the graphorn before she saw it. It was eating. Apparently the moose they had found had not been enough.

When she did get a look at it, it was hard to see the distinctive greyish purple color of its coarse fur in the dim lighting. However she was able to see the two sharp horns on its head and the large hump on its back. They circled around the interior of the cave as quietly as they could and hoped that they would not attract the graphorn's attention. Luna took notice of the place the creature appeared to call home. There were more bones scattered around and some even seemed to be arranged in a meaningful way. To one side there was a bed of leafy branches. Several patches of the floor and walls looked to be scratched up by claws or horns.

After they had both gotten a good look Rolf led their way out of the cave and away from the beast. They did not stop walking until they were sure they were out of the graphorn's range of hearing. Then Rolf said, "I think it is safe to undo the spell."

Luna lingered for a moment before pulling her hand away from his and pulling her wand from out behind her ear. Rolf had done the same beside her and was now opening his pack and retrieving some parchment and a quill. Luna asked him what he was writing down and they compared notes on what they had observed in the cave.

"What is your plan now?" asked Luna when they were finished.

"I am going to continue observing the graphorn. Though I want to limit my trips into the cave. I want to see how it spends its time outside of its den. I want to see if it eventually meets up with another one. Very little is known about how they interact with each other since it is so dangerous to get close to even one."

Luna smiled. He had a chance to catch a glimpse of a world that no human had seen yet.

He looked at her askance and spoke his next words in a hesitant tone. "You could join me if you wanted to. I know you have your own plans but I just thought I'd ask..." His hands were playing with the parchment in front of him, rolling up the bottom tightly and then letting it go again.

"I would like to but I don't know. Finding a Snorkack has been important to me for so long."

"Why?" His hands tightened on the parchment. "I mean, if you prefer not to answer I understand."

Luna looked back at him with her wide, blue eyes. This time their natural intensity was not tempered by the dreamy look she often wore. "My mother didn't believe in most of my father's ideas. Like most people. But she never got tired of hearing about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. She would tell me bedtime stories about them. Then she died, and I had to tell her stories to myself."

"I'm sorry." He seemed to be casting about for something else to say but ended up adding nothing.

"I really would like to join you in your research. I went out looking for something that might not exist and instead ending up following you and learning about something that I know for sure does, and it has made the difference very clear. Going back to that uncertainty now would be painful. Maybe I will be better off if I remember my mother's stories and give up on finding the real thing."

"I don't want to pressure you," said Rolf, "but I would be glad you have you along."

"I would be glad to go along." Her tone showed that it was not a final answer.

"How about this? I'm going back to the graphorn's den tomorrow morning. If you want to meet me there then you can."

Luna nodded. "I will think about it and see what happens."

They went their separate ways and she was soon back at her tent. She looked at her map again while she thought about what she wanted to do. Then she folded it up again.

The next morning she packed up her tent so that she would be able to set up camp closer to Rolf and carried all her equipment to the cave they had discovered the day before.


End file.
